Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Banono, Jenevelle V.
Javier, Joselito
Villamor, Dhresan I.
BSCE-II
Reporters
jenevellebanono.03@gmail.com
rosemarieannmira@gmail.com
delacruzpat@gmail.com javierjoselit99@gmail.com
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Solid Waste Management
villamordhresanpearl1412@gmail.com
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Solid Waste Management
Table of Contents
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Solid Waste Management
Large number of solid waste are being thrown off into different sanitary landfills
every single day. Such waste come from houses, industries, offices and activities relating to
agriculture. As a result, these landfill sites give off foul-smelling odor if not stored and well-
taken care off. It can pollute our surroundings and can compromise the health of the
community living near the unsanitary sites as well. Major solid waste sources are as
follows:
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i. Residential
Scrap, trash and litter from this source include yard waste, metals, food waste, glass,
paper, plastic, cardboard, leather, ashes as well as household items that are bulky such as
electronics and other appliances, used oil and old mattresses. Household mostly store their
residential waste into garbage bins that are later collected by garbage trucks. Homes where
people live are the major sources of residential waste.
ii. Industrial
iii. Commercial
iv. Institutional
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products produced from these sources are plastics, wood, paper, food wastes, metals,
cardboard materials as well as hazardous materials and other electronic waste.
Construction and demolition sites may include newly constructed areas for
buildings as well as its renovation sites, road repair sites, roads and building demolition
sites. Copper wires, dirt, glass, wood, rubber, plastics, concrete and steel materials are few
of the end-product produce by these source areas.
Urban centers are one of the examples of municipal services which contributes to
the solid waste production in our society today. Wastes from this area source are garbage
gained from parks, landscaping wastes, waste water treatment plants as well as wastes
from recreational areas.
Manufacturing plants may it be heavy or light also produces solid waste which
gravely contributes to the pollution in our environment. Few of these manufacturing plants
existing today are chemical plants, mineral extraction plants, processing plants and
powering plants. End-products resulting from these plants are unwanted specification
products, industrial process wastes, metal parts and other hazardous wastes.
viii. Agriculture
Waste from this area source is a result from different agricultural activities and
operations. Agricultural waste includes pesticide containers, remnants from fertilizers, as
well as fertilizer run-off from fields, poultry houses and waste from farms.
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ix. Biomedical
Biomedical wastes basically refers to waste produced and generated from chemical
manufacturing firms, hospitals, treatment and immunization of animals or humans, testing
of biologicals and remnants from its processes. Solid waste generated from this source are
syringes, chemicals, food waste, plastics, papers, used gloves, bandages and other harmful
materials.
This type of dumping of waste materials forces biodegradable materials to rot and
decompose under improper, unhygienic and uncontrolled conditions. After a few days of
decomposition, a foul smell is produced and it becomes a breeding ground for different
types of disease causing insects as well as infectious organisms. On top of that, it also spoils
the aesthetic value of the area.
Solid wastes from industries are a source of toxic metals, hazardous wastes, and
chemicals. When released to the environment, the solid wastes can cause biological and
physicochemical problems to the environment and may affect or alter the productivity of
the soils in that particular area.
Toxic materials and chemicals may seep into the soil and pollute the ground
water. During the process of collecting solid waste, the hazardous wastes usually mix with
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ordinary garbage and other flammable wastes making the disposal process even harder
and risky.
When hazardous wastes like pesticides, batteries containing lead, mercury or zinc,
cleaning solvents, radioactive materials, e-waste and plastics are mixed up with paper and
other scraps are burned they produce dioxins and gasses. These toxic gases have a
potential of causing various diseases including cancer.
i. Sanitary Landfill
This is the most popular solid waste disposal method used today. Garbage is
basically spread out in thin layers, compressed and covered with soil or plastic foam.
Modern landfills are designed in such a way that the bottom of the landfill is covered with
an impervious liner which is usually made of several layers of thick plastic and sand. This
liner protects the ground water from being contaminated because of leaching or
percolation. When the landfill is full, it is covered with layers of sand, clay, top soil and
gravel to prevent seepage of water.
ii. Incineration
This method involves burning of solid wastes at high temperatures until the wastes
are turned into ashes. Incinerators are made in such a way that they do not give off extreme
amounts of heat when burning solid wastes. This method of solid waste management can
be done by individuals, municipalities and even institutions. The good thing about this
method is the fact that it reduces the volume of waste up to 20 or 30% of the original
volume.
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iv. Composting
Due to lack of adequate space for landfills, biodegradable yard waste is allowed to
decompose in a medium designed for the purpose. Only biodegradable waste materials are
used in composting. Good quality environmentally friendly manure is formed from the
compost and can be used for agricultural purposes.
v. Pyrolysis
This is method of solid waste management whereby solid wastes are chemically
decomposed by heat without presence of oxygen. This usually occurs under pressure and
at temperatures of up to 430 degrees Celsius. The solid wastes are changed into gasses,
solid residue and small quantities of liquid.
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Figure 1.3: Projected waste generation in the entire Philippines and Metro Manila from 2008-2020.
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Solid Waste Management
The second of the six functional elements in the solid waste management system is
waste handling, sorting, storage, and processing at the source. Waste handling and sorting
involves the activities associated with management of wastes until they are placed in
storage containers for collection. Handling also encompasses the movement of loaded
containers to the point of collection. Sorting of waste components is an important step in
the handling and storage of solid waste at the source. The best place to separate waste
materials for reuse and recycling is at the source of generation. Households are becoming
more aware of the importance of separating newspaper and cardboard, bottles/glass,
kitchen wastes and ferrous and non-ferrous materials.
Onsite handling is the very first step in waste management. It involves individual
family members, households and communities, all of whom need to know how to handle
waste properly at this level. ‘Handling’ means the separation of wastes into their different
types so they can be dealt with in the most appropriate way, for example, separating
putrescible waste for composting.
Onsite storage means the temporary collection of waste at the household level. It is
important that waste is stored in proper containers. These could be baskets, preferably
made from locally available materials, plastic buckets or metal containers.
The functional element of collection includes not only the gathering of solid wastes
and recyclable materials, but also the transport of these materials, after collection, to the
location where the collection vehicle is emptied. This location may be materials processing
facility, a transfer station, or a landfill disposal site.
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The functional element of transfer and transport involves two steps: (i) the transfer
of wastes from the smaller collection vehicle to the larger transport equipment and (ii) the
subsequent transport of the wastes, usually over long distances, to a processing or disposal
site. The transfer usually takes place at a transfer station.
v. Disposal
The final functional element in the solid waste management system is disposal.
Today the disposal of wastes by landfilling or uncontrolled dumping is the ultimate fate of
all solid wastes, whether they are residential wastes collected and transported directly to a
landfill site, residual materials from Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs), residue from the
combustion of solid waste, rejects of composting, or other substances from various solid
waste-processing facilities. A municipal solid waste landfill plant is an engineered facility
used for disposing of solid wastes on land or within the earth’s mantle without creating
nuisance or hazard to public health or safety, such as breeding of rodents and insects and
contamination of groundwater.
Reduce
With individual effort, we can reduce the waste we produce in the first place. For example
– materials must be bought from the market only if it is necessary for us.
Reuse
We can use the same thing again and again for different purposes. For example:
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We can use plastic jars of jams, pickles, oil, etc. for storing things like salt, spices,
sugar etc.
We can reform glass, plastic, metal and paper objects and convert them into useful substances.
This process is recycling. For example,
We can recycle old newspapers, magazines, books, notebooks to make new paper or
cardboard.
We will discuss about the most preferred options of the waste hierarchy and will go
down towards the least preferred options. The most
preferred options are the options having the best
effects on the environment, which have been described
Figure 2. Waste Management Hierarchy Model
here in the hierarchical format:
i. Avoidance
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program. According to this principle, the manufacturing industries should make use of less
hazardous materials in the design and manufacturing of the products. They should develop
strategies to have a cleaner and environment friendly production.
Minimize the amount of waste through various means of control. If we avoid the initial
use of resource then we avoid wasting the resource. Don't buy what you don't need.
Remember, when you buy something, you are buying the whole package, wrapping and all.
Look for products whose design has minimized waste by creating a better product or better
packaging. Select the products that use the least hazardous materials.
All items should be re-used to the greatest extent possible through substitution and
postponing. Substitution is when no new materials are needed to fulfill the need.
Postponing is when the life of the goods is extended through good maintenance practices,
repair, cleaning and refurbishment. The goods don't become waste until further down the
line.
Avoidance can:
•Conserve energy,
•Reduce pollution,
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action to make changes in the type of materials that are being used for the production of
the specific products, so as to ensure that the by-products are of the least toxicity.
This approach helps the industries in various ways. In this way, the industries can be
able to effectively save the natural resources.
According to Epa.gov, before an incident occurs, communities can take steps to reduce
the amount and toxicity of incident-generated waste. For example, the community can
minimize waste and mitigate the hazards in their neighborhoods by updating building
codes or retrofitting PCB transformers. Communities can limit the possible spread of
contamination by sealing access points to the sewer or water system with drain covers. The
initial planning and preparation efforts communities take to minimize the amount and
toxicity of incident-generated waste have several environmental benefits (e.g., reducing the
amount of new materials needed to rebuild), as well as economic benefits (e.g., shortening
the recovery timeline).
iii. Reuse
Reuse refers to materials that can be used again in their original form. These items
typically are not removed from the site. Communities should evaluate their reuse program
to ensure it can be scaled up to handle incident-generated materials, if necessary. To
maximize reuse opportunities for different materials during an incident, a viable reuse
infrastructure, such as end markets for salvaged products, should be in place prior to an
incident. In addition, communities should establish and document guidelines in their pre-
incident waste management plans for salvaging and reusing various materials. Risk
communication should be a part of waste-related community outreach plans to help ensure
public acceptance of the salvaged materials.
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iv. Recycle
In the recycling strategy, the waste materials are implemented in the production of a
new product. In this process, the waste materials of various forms are collected and then
processed. Post processing, they enter into the production lines to give rise to new
products. This process prevents pollution and saves energy.
Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise
be disposed of as waste and turning them into new products. Items usually are recycled off-
site. However, in some circumstances, waste can be recycled on-site (e.g., asphalt recycling
or breaking up and grinding concrete on-site for immediate use in backfill). Communities
should evaluate their recycling program for everyday wastes to ensure it can be scaled up
to handle incident-related wastes, if necessary. To maximize recycling opportunities for
different waste streams during an incident, a viable recycling infrastructure, such as
recycling facilities and end markets for recycled products, needs to be in place prior to an
incident. For example, green building programs, local waste management ordinances and
building code requirements can encourage the creation and help maintain a robust and
functioning recycling infrastructure. In addition, communities should establish criteria for
recycling various waste streams. Risk communication should be addressed in waste-related
community outreach plans to help ensure public acceptance of recycled products made
from incident-related wastes.
•Saving energy;
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•Creating jobs;
v. Energy Recovery
The energy recovery process is also called as waste to energy conversion. In this
process, the wastes that cannot be recycled are being converted into useable forms of
energy such as heat, light and electricity etc. This helps in saving various natural resources.
Various processes such as combustion, anaerobic digestion, landfill gas recovery,
pyrolization and gasification are being implemented to carry out the conversion process.
"Energy recovery" is really a euphemism for "burn it". This may seem odd, but waste
materials can be burned down and the energy from it harnessed as electricity. This saves
burning oil or coal, although other oxidised pollutants, namely sulphur-containing products
and dioxins produced can cause more damage. Burning waste in this manner needs to be
tightly controlled.
Energy recovery can also be achieved with bio-mass waste. We can either burn it
directly, or compost it to capture methane, which can be burned to produce energy
(biogas).
Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into
useable heat, electricity, or fuel through a variety of processes, including combustion,
gasification, pyrolization, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas (LFG) recovery. This process
is often called waste-to-energy (WTE). Converting non-recyclable waste materials into
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electricity and heat generates a renewable energy source and reduces carbon emissions by
offsetting the need for energy from fossil sources and reduces methane generation from
landfills. After energy is recovered, approximately ten percent of the volume remains as
ash, which is generally sent to a landfill.
Prior to disposal, treatment can help reduce the volume and toxicity of waste.
Treatments can be physical (e.g., shredding), chemical (e.g., incineration), and biological
(e.g., anaerobic digestor). Landfills are the most common form of waste disposal and are an
important component of an integrated waste management system. Modern landfills are
well-engineered facilities located, designed, operated, and monitored to ensure compliance
with state and federal regulations. Landfills that accept municipal solid waste are primarily
regulated by state, tribal, and local governments. EPA, however, established national
standards that these landfills must meet in order to stay open. The federal landfill
regulations eliminated the open dumps (disposal facilities that do not meet federal and
state criteria) of the past. Today’s landfills must meet stringent design, operation, and
closure requirements. Methane gas, a byproduct of decomposing waste, can be collected
and used as fuel to generate electricity. After a landfill is capped, the land may be used for
recreation sites such as parks, golf courses, and ski slopes.
The disposal process holds the last position in the waste management hierarchy. Landfills
are the common form of waste disposal.
The five-stage waste hierarchy, as promulgated by the WFD, deals with more than
waste management issues, in that waste prevention is generally accepted as being outside
of the waste management spectrum, even in the WFD. The concept of waste prevention
entails more effective and efficient resource management in order to avoid the generation
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of waste. Given this, should waste prevention even be included as part of the hierarchy?
There are arguments to suggest it should, especially if we were to consider the hierarchy as
a broader environmental hierarchy towards more sustainable resource management — a
longer title but one that may be more appropriate.
The waste hierarchy thus makes three different claims, which relate in different ways to
dematerializing the economy.
•Diversion from landfill can only serve dematerialization, as it results in waste being
recovered, recycled, or reused and thereby substitutes virgin inputs.
•Reducing environmental impacts is also the goal of dematerialization, but the waste
hierarchy does not by definition live up to this promise.
•Saving resources by prioritizing recycling, reuse and recovery does not guarantee
dematerialization, as it reduces primary inputs but still allows secondary flows to grow
unrestrained.
In most countries other than Japan, throwing away trash is simple. Garbage is
garbage, and that’s the end of unwanted items. Just put them in any container and bid
goodbye to your waste. Although some efforts have been made in other countries to
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separate rubbish to a certain extent, such as cardboard or food waste, throwing away
garbage is still relatively simple and doesn’t take up too much of your time and effort.
Most foreigners who come to Japan for the first time are often surprised (and
sometimes perplexed) by the very systematic and precise separation and disposal of
garbage in the Japanese recycling system. Each city has its own rules, so you must be
careful but, in general, the rules are similar. The number of public garbage cans in Japan is
very small, and people are often asked to bring their trash home for disposal. Places where
public garbage cans can be found include some train stations and convenience stores, while
many vending machines have an attached container for PET bottles, bins and cans.
In the recent years Japan has been expanding and widening the areas of garbage
collection zone. It is possible to improve the efficiency of collection and transport
operations in cities with widening collection zones by setting up waste transfer stations
where wastes can be transferred from small- or medium-sized garbage trucks to larger
trucks. The cost of collecting and transporting garbage accounts for high percentage of
waste disposal operations. Improving the efficiency of collection and transport leads to cost
reduction while maintaining or improving services to residents.
It would be more efficient in many of the Asian countries to use small collection trucks
because of narrow roads. Many of the roads in Japan, too, are narrow, and 1t to 2t compact
garbage collection trucks were developed with reduced body weight in order to increase
load capacity. There are two types of this garbage collection trucks - mechanical trucks
(Mobile Packers) and compressor-type trucks, but mobile packers are more commonly
used.
Packers scoop up the garbage with a spinning disk and thrust it into the storage space
with a sliding board. Garbage with high moisture content reduces compression efficiency;
however, with continuous modification, trucks have achieved high compression rate, with
1.5 times more load than flat pile trucks. Compressor-type trucks press down the garbage
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on to the floor with a compressor board (pressing plate), and after breaking it up and
reducing volume, the garbage is slid into the storage area. The trucks efficiently collect
large garbage requiring breakdown, bulky PET bottles and plastic waste. Due to the
worldwide problem of global warming, low-pollution-type garbage trucks, such as electric
motor-drive and hybrid trucks are being developed and put into practical use.
From about 1960, Japan began disposing urban garbage by incineration, and today,
Japan possesses the world's leading garbage incineration facilities. In the fiscal year 2009,
there were 1243 incineration facilities in Japan, incinerating garbage using several
methods - stoker furnaces, fluidized bed furnaces, and gasification fusion resource furnaces
with the objective of ash recycling. Stoker furnaces account for 70% of all furnaces, and
improvement of this type of furnace is progressing rapidly. Today, while high level
environmental conservation technologies are being introduced, technologies related to
high-efficiency power generation and technologies related to safe operation, such as
automatic incineration devices and automatic cranes, are also being developed. We are
now accumulating know-how on handling diverse types of garbage of today, ranging from
the low-calorie garbage, which was generated when incineration facilities were first being
built, to the high-calorie garbage.
Such technology can be utilized for the type of garbage generated in the Asian region.
The newest stoker furnace technology is low air incineration that aims for high-efficiency
power generation, which is already under construction in Japan. The figure below shows
one example of the latest technology: a facility exhibiting high pollution prevention and
high-efficiency power generation capacity.
Figure 3.2 : Reduction of Dioxin emissions from 1997 to 2004
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There are many city incinerations plants, both large and small, being operated in
compliance with the strict antipollution policies implemented in Japan.
While many technologies have been developed, including technology to reduce dioxin
emission, remove acidic gas and recycle incinerated ash, the conventional stoker furnace
has seen significant improvement. The conventional stoker furnace's highly efficient
technology enables
electric generation
from recovered heat
waste and makes it an
effective measure
against greenhouse
emissions. Its
improvement and
objective are
summarized in the
chart below. Together with the improvement of heat recovery after incineration, this
system makes it possible to efficiently generate clean electricity compared to the
conventional method. These new technologies enabled Japan's incineration plants to
become safe and sound while generating electricity efficiently.
Some waste generated from medical institutes may be contagious. In the past, Japan has
experience cases of medical accidents in which medical staff were infected by hepatitis B
with needles used on hepatitis patients which eventually caused death. Other than harmful
bacteria and viruses, medical waste contains vinyl chloride and organochlorine chemicals,
and simple incineration may generate hydrogen chloride and dioxin. Japan has strict
regulations regarding the generation of dioxin and measures are taken to reduce dioxin
through incinerator structure, operation methods, and dioxin elimination systems, and
incinerators specifically for medical waste are used to reduce dioxin content in the gas
emissions. Some of the furnaces used as medical waste incinerators to control the emission
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of dioxin are gasification furnaces, kiln furnaces and vertical furnaces that safely and
completely burn waste.
Under the 3R policy (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), Japan has been collecting PET bottles,
food trays, and cans separately for reuse as recycle resources in the manufacturing of new
products. PET bottles are collected in accordance with the Act on the Promotion of Sorted
Collection and Recycling Containers and Packaging, and they are used to make a variety of
textile products, etc. Relatively high-
grade PET bottles are collected and Figure 3.2: PET Bottles Rate in Japan
remade into PET bottles or carpets
with the high technology possessed
by Japan. PET stands for polyethylene
terephthalate and these are used to
make the drink bottles you'll find in
vending machines and convenience
stores all over Japan.
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becoming more and more sophisticated. Japan has many outstanding recycling
achievements and many recycling facilities are operating stably. The prevailing method of
handling used home appliances in the past was to first break them apart with a simple
machine and then sort out the recyclable parts using magnets. Today, recycling has become
more sophisticated. To improve the purity of recovered resources, appliances are first
taken apart and sorted manually, then compacted. The operation is efficient in that not only
metallic material, but also plastic parts are recovered for recycling.
Refrigerators and air conditioners contain chlorofluorocarbons that damage the earth's
ozone layer. These hazardous liquid chlorofluorocarbon and chlorofluorocarbon in
insulating material are recovered for proper disposal. Furthermore, consideration is given
for the safety of workers and protection of the environment of surrounding areas. The
Recycling Specified kinds of Home Appliance Recycling Law stipulates that four home
appliances - air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators, and washer-dryers - are to be disposed of
with responsibility shared by several parties. Waste generators deliver the used appliances
to retailers, who charge for disposal. The retailers take the appliances to the
manufacturers, importers of the said appliances, etc., who are responsible for recycling.
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Waste generated in cities and villages includes combustible waste with low moisture
content, such as paper, plastic, and wood debris; and waste with high moisture content,
such as food production waste, kitchen waste, manure, sewage sludge, biomass and
another organic sludge. Waste with high moisture content will generate methane gas and
hydrogen sulfide when buried without treatment, causing environmental pollution.
Incineration of high moisture waste requires sub-material to assist with the incineration.
Of high moisture content may be effectively recycled as BDF, an energy can be recovered
from wood debris incineration. Waste treatment such as composting, methane
fermentation, and used as animal feed that best suit the features of the locale is selected.
Aiming for the structuring of a recycling society, food production waste and kitchen waste
from homes, barn animal manure, sludge and other biomass are treated independently or
in combination with
incineration. Below
are examples of
leading biomass
technology.
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Fossil fuel is now being replaced by fuel obtained from sewage sludge in order to
reduce CO2 emissions. There are two methods of recycling sewage sludge as fuel: sewage
gas (methane gas) generation and carbonization (carbon fuel). The figure below shows the
recent use of energy from sewage sludge in Japan. Sewage sludge will always be generated
by human activity. Seeing this as energy, energy from the sludge can be supplied stably in
large cities, increasing the value of sludge as a resource. Recycling sewage sludge as energy
is expected to increase to full-scale in the years to come.
In many Asian city's waste landfill sites, waste is dumped and burned openly. Japan
used to be the same; however, a joint research by Fukuoka University and Fukuoka City in
1970s produced and applied a semi-aerobic landfill structure for landfills that is sanitary
and presents no environmental problem. Compared to anaerobic landfill, the semi-aerobic
landfill technology quickly stabilizes landfill sites after the land has completed its role as
landfill, enabling it to be used for parks and open space for sports. This technology was
accredited as CDM methodology by the UN CDM Executive Board.
In 1977, structural and maintenance management standards were established for final
disposal sites. The standards grouped the final disposal sites into three categories -
controlled landfill, inert landfill, and isolated landfill - and stipulated that waste must be
safely disposed at landfill according to their properties. The semi-aerobic landfill structure
is employed as the structure for controlled landfill. Harmful waste such as waste
containing heavy metal and PCBs has the potential to adversely affect health and the
environment and must be disposed of at isolated landfill sites. Non-harmful waste that has
the potential to pollute public water areas and underground water, or may affect the
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environment because of gas, odor and/or pests must be disposed of at controlled landfill
sites. Plastic waste, rubber debris, metal debris, glass, ceramics and bricks that has little
potential to cause environmental pollution can be disposed of at inert landfill sites.
While Japan might be good at dealing with wastefulness in some ways, in others it still
produces huge amounts of
waste that must be dealt with.
There have been some
projects encouraging people
to reduce their waste
production, such as using,
"My Hashi" personal
chopsticks, rather than
disposable ones, or
rediscovering old furoshiki
wrapping traditions to cut
down on packaging. Will Japan listen to its own word "mottainai," or will it develop newer
and more efficient incineration technologies to dispose of its over packaging? We'll have to
wait and see what the future bins of Japan have in store for us.
Seventeen years after its enactment, LGUs struggle to implement our solid waste
management law. Manila, Philippines – It's an unfortunate but familiar sight: trash strewn
all over Roxas Boulevard due to the southwest monsoon winds ( hanging habagat) blowing
them over from Manila Bay. The bay itself is covered in trash after a storm. This happens
annually, and nobody bats an eyelash when it does. Trash is part of life in the city,
especially Metro Manila.
But the internet paints a different picture. On the Facebook page Buhay Zero Waste,
you'll find posts about "eco-bricks", shampoo bars, and mess kits – just a few of the tips and
tricks their more than 24,000 members give and receive about how to live a more
environmentally friendly lifestyle. From 2012 to 2017, the Philippines was consistently
among the top participating countries in Ocean Conservatory's International Coastal
Cleanup. This is except for 2016, when events in the Philippines were "canceled due to
geopolitical circumstances."
The table below shows the top 10 participating countries in the ICC from 2012 to 2017.
X. 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 0
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When it comes to the Manila Bay watershed area, the Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG) has been monitoring the compliance of surrounding areas –
regions III, IV-A, and NCR – with RA 9003, the Clean Water Act (RA 9275), and the Urban
Development and Housing Act (RA 7279). The data from their Manila Bay Clean-up,
Rehabilitation, and Preservation Program annual reports from 2011 to 2017 show that
despite the increase in establishments, factories, and homes that have adequate waste
treatment facilities and septic tanks, there is also an increase annually in the number of
structures that surround the Manila Bay Area.
Below is
2017
2016
a comparison of
2015 the number of
2014 establishments,
2013 factories, and
2012
homes in the
2011
0 100000 200000 300000 400000 500000 600000 30
Manila Bay area that constructed wastewater treatment facilities or septic tanks following
inspections from their respective local government units (LGU) over time. The DILG notes
that LGUs encountered problems on data storage and retention, which led to the
fluctuations in data from 2013 to 2015.
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
The DILG’s reports also show that there is a significant increase between 2011 and
2017 in the number of LGUs in the Manila Bay watershed that complied with solid waste
management regulations, as prescribed by RA 9003.
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
Approved disposal facility
20 Functional MRF
0 Segregated collection
2011
2012 Segregation at source
2013
2014 10-year SWMP
2015
2016
2017
However, out of the total 178 LGUs in the area, there are still 39.89% that don’t
comply with the 10-year solid waste management plan, 27.53% that do not comply with
regulations for segregation at source, 23.03% that don’t comply with regulations on
segregation collection and 44.38% that do not have a functional materials recovery
facilities, and 10.11% that don’t have approved disposal facilities.
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In September 2017, the Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) movement, a global
movement of which Greenpeace Philippines is a part, conducted a “brand audit,” where
they cleaned up Freedom Island, part of the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and
Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) in Manila Bay. After collecting the trash in the area, they
categorized their findings per brand, then further into product type, and package type.
They found that Nestle, Unilever, and PT Torabika were the biggest contributors to the
waste found along Freedom Island, with 9,143, 5,889, and 5,618 pieces of trash found from
each brand respectively. Among these 3 brands, the trash found was mostly multi-layer
packaging for food, personal care, or household products.
According to Aguilar, most of the more than 54,000 pieces of trash they picked up
were sachets – some even with designs from the ‘90s. In the Philippines, it’s no surprise.
About 48% of Filipino families rated themselves poor in pollster Social Weather Stations’
June 2018 survey. That number has ranged from 42% to 66% from July 2001 to 2018. As
author and renewable energy advocate Dennis Posadas said when he wrote for in 2014,
affordable sachets are a way for companies to tap into low income markets – high-quality
products become more accessible, companies gain more market share. It would be a win-
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win situation, except that the more sachets we produce, the greater our trash problem
becomes. Stopping the problem at the source” then, is a lot easier said than done.
B. Longer-term solutions
But work is already underway, not just for non-governmental organizations like
Greenpeace, but by these big companies. Nestle and Unilever both told Rappler through
email that they've been working on developing sustainable packaging alternatives and
programs that reuse their packaging once consumers are through with them. This, they
said, was being done even before the brand audit was sent to them and the rest of the top
10 companies who contributed the most trash. Aside from reducing the waste they produce
in their factories, Nestle said that their research centers globally have been looking into
innovative packaging designs and alternative materials, that since 1993 they’ve been trying
to reduce the amount of packaging materials they use in their products, and that they have
initiatives to recover and recycle the plastics and laminates.
Among these initiatives is a partnership with local government units and green
housing solutions company Green Antz Builders Inc, to make eco-bricks – building blocks
made of used plastic. Another initiative, in partnership with the Department of Education
and Philippine Business for Social Progress, is “Tibay Chairs,” where used sachets are used
to make chairs for public schools. Reusing, however, is not the same as not producing
altogether. “[Our main call] is that the only way that we can stop the problem of plastics is
to reduce the production of single use plastics," Aguilar told Rappler about what BFFP
asked of the top 10 companies when their audit results were presented. She continued:
"And we recognize that it’s not going to happen overnight. So, our call is for them, while
they are doing short-term projects on plastic waste management, they look for longer-term
solutions."
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When it comes to individuals trying to make a difference, efforts by the likes of the
members of Buhay Zero Waste on Facebook contribute a lot too. “It means you’re not
adding to the existing problem,” Aguilar said in a mix of English and Filipino. “So little
things like that are important and commendable.” She added that speaking up on social
media about living a zero waste lifestyle and wanting more options from brands would also
be a great help. “If they utilize their own social media personal accounts to call out, if
there’s a big movement of people calling out corporations for their contribution to plastic
pollution, I think big step ‘yon. And I doubt kung hindi ito – kung may swell ng tao – kung
hindi ito pakikinggan ng mga corporations,” she said.
References
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Solid Waste Management
Rivas, R. (2018). The challenges of going zero waste in the Philippines . Retrieved from
https://www.rappler.com/science-nature/environment/203142-zero-waste-challenge-
philippines
Tantuco, V. (2018). Why cant the Philippines solve its trash problems . Retrieved from
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/210292-reason-philippines-cannot-solve-
trash-problem
Tantuco, V. (2019). The problem with plastics: stopping it at the source . Retrieved from
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/212001-solving-problem-plastic-waste
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Solid Waste Management
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/sources-effects-methods-of-solid-waste-
management.php
Ministry of the Environment. (2012). Solid Waste Management and Recycling Technology
of Japan Solid Waste Management and Recycling Technology of Japan.
Verity Lane. (2014). Japan’s garbage disposal system explained. Retrieved from
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/garbage-in-japan/
Japan info. (2019). Living in Japan: A Guide to Garbage Disposal and Recycling. Retrieved
from https://jpninfo.com/9826
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